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hint for my next 6.5 build

Hello, i need some advice for my next build.

I will use that mostly for 600 yd or less, maybe only occasionally more. it will be a 6.5 and i already have a .260.

26" barrel, i'd like to push 139/140 class bullets to about 2870 ( accuracy node for two .260 rifles with 139 scenar). no magnum and complicated brass forming. Easy to load (=wide accuracy node), i will reload so don't care about factory ammunitions and i dont hunting.

I' m thinking about the 6.5x47 L and the 6.5 SLR. The slr is interesting, same 6.5L case desing with more powder. The doubt about the slr is the ease of reloading like the lapua

i will like to know your thoughts about these two but if you have other ideas it's ok. I am open to all the pros and cons.

thank you
 
If you already have a .260, which is easily 600 yd+ capable, why do you need another 6.5? What kind of shooting are you going to be doing?
 
like joshb said and because it seems that the .260 is perfect one day and the other maybe, this is why i prefer one with wide accuracy node. how is the x55 about that?

i will use it for fclass like match and of course for fun at long range

anyway, my .260 is a tikka with 24" barrell, i have two load for it, for summer the low one doesn't work and for the other i need to compress the powder

another thing i'm looking at is the 30° shoulder
 
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If you want an easy button, there is always the 6.5 PRC. It does have a magnum bolt face but it's not a magnum round. You can get good ADG or Peterson brass for it and it loves H-1000 and N565.
 
I built a Jap 6.5 and have been very happy with it . Built it on a Remington 783 , easy on barrels , Norma brass , just not much reload data when I was starting.
 
If you want an easy button, there is always the 6.5 PRC. It does have a magnum bolt face but it's not a magnum round. You can get good ADG or Peterson brass for it and it loves H-1000 and N565.
i was looking at the PRC but it needs a lot of powder and here i can't easily find that kind of powder (plus in this period the prices have doubled)
 
Wile we start to dream up fantasy builds, better dream up some dies first. Then dream up a gunsmith with the appropriate reamer. What used to be simple is all but impossible with the shortages.

I learned the challenges when trying to come up with 260 AI dies.
 
Wile we start to dream up fantasy builds, better dream up some dies first. Then dream up a gunsmith with the appropriate reamer. What used to be simple is all but impossible with the shortages.

I learned the challenges when trying to come up with 260 AI dies.
i know but i have the gunsmith that can make the dies, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Long or short action? mag fed or single shot?
better short, mag fed is not a necessity
 
i was looking at the PRC but it needs a lot of powder and here i can't easily find that kind of powder (plus in this period the prices have doubled)

It takes around 55-58 grains of powder. The 6.5 SAUM takes a little over 60. that isn't really a lot of powder.

That said, if you want high accuracy past 600 yds, an easy to tune cartridge, and minimal powder usage than you can't beat a 6BR. I watched a guy shoot a sub 4" 10-shot group at 1000 yds with one, and that was a straight 6BR, not one of the improved variants.
 
better under 50 grains of powder :)

i had a 6br, probably the barrel had a problem but in the wind i think a 6.5 would be better.

if in future i will shoot more to 1000y i will build a .284
 
I have a 6mm SLR, and a friend who shoots the 6.5 version in F-Class (very successfully in mid-ranges). If you can get the reamer and die set, the SLR is a no-hassle wildcat reform job - run the parent case, 243 Win or 260 Rem into the die and so far for me it works first time, every time without problems, lost cases etc, and no major fireforming needed.

Robert Whitley does recommend using thinner US brass, not RWS, Lapua etc for easier and perfect forming and no need for neck turning.

However, I'd go for 6.5X55 on balance if you can still get quality brass in Italy. (Here in the UK, our Lapua distributor has it on back-order, and it has been for months, for the first time I've seen this with this case in nearly 40 years of use.) It gives you a modest increase in case capacity over the 260 based rounds (@ c. 58gn water in Lapua) and is a very flexible number - very well balanced. N160 and (my preferred powder) N165 produce the MVs your looking at from a 30-inch barrel. Powder consumption is high 40s to a shade over 50gn (with N165). The new N555 looks perfect for it, but I've yet to try it in mine. Huge choice of powder as basically anything in the 4350-4831/Re22 bracket works well with 140gn bracket bullets. There are also 30 or 35-degree shoulder improved variants. Search 6.5X55mm Improved for information on the BJAI, GWI and others as well as the Ackley 40-deg version.
 
better under 50 grains of powder :)

i had a 6br, probably the barrel had a problem but in the wind i think a 6.5 would be better.

if in future i will shoot more to 1000y i will build a .284

It depends. In average to good conditions the 6BR variants dominate 1000yd BR. When the wind is squirrely, the 300 WSM or 300 SAUM IMP do a little better. That said, on the day I shot a 3.855" 10-shot 1000 yd group with a 300 WSM, a new IBS record was set by a 6BRA with a 2.6xx" 10-shot group.

We don't see too many 6.5s or 7s anymore in LRBR, where we are concerned about high scores and tight groups. I once saw a 6.5 Creed okay, but day in and day out a 6mm is really hard to beat.

There does seem to be a lot of 7s in F-Class, where they shoot slow and every shot is a wind call.
 
the SLR is a no-hassle wildcat reform job - run the parent case, 243 Win or 260 Rem into the die and so far for me it works first time, every time without problems, lost cases etc, and no major fireforming needed.
and this is why the SLR is so interesting for me, also the cost for the winchester brass is half of lapua brass (for 6.5x47 and other the lapua stopped the production). For the ease of tune how is comparable to the 6.5x47?
the barrel will be 26"

INTJ
i don't do benchrest, is more like f-class. this year i don't have f-class match near me (i am trying to organize but i think it will be for next year, the range where i go is building the 600y and starting with prs too) so it will be long range match but not f-class.

now that you are making me rethink to 6mm i'm running in JBM 6.5x47 140gr vs 6xc 105-108gr and the six should be better up to 1000y for windage. is that possible with a so little bullet?
 
and this is why the SLR is so interesting for me, also the cost for the winchester brass is half of lapua brass (for 6.5x47 and other the lapua stopped the production). For the ease of tune how is comparable to the 6.5x47?
the barrel will be 26"

INTJ
i don't do benchrest, is more like f-class. this year i don't have f-class match near me (i am trying to organize but i think it will be for next year, the range where i go is building the 600y and starting with prs too) so it will be long range match but not f-class.

now that you are making me rethink to 6mm i'm running in JBM 6.5x47 140gr vs 6xc 105-108gr and the six should be better up to 1000y for windage. is that possible with a so little bullet?

It's funny. Usually, when you are in the pits and the wind blows, everyone's bullets move. The 30 cals move just a little less than the 6mms. Often, certain bullets drift less than their BC numbers, like the Berger 6mm 115s or the Berger 30 cal 185 Juggernauts.

A lot of PRS guys like the 6 Dasher. They use either Alpha or Petersen brass if they don't want to fireform Lapua. The throat them long and use the higher BC 6mm bullets like the Berger 109s and 115s. In LRBR we use 103-105 grain bullets because they usually group better.
 
so now i have to see if a 6 with the right bullet pushed fast will be better than a 6.5 out to 600y, don't look like an easy choice :)
I have a 6mm SLR, and a friend who shoots the 6.5 version in F-Class
and just retry to ask because i have not so much info for 6.5 SLR,
For the ease of tune how is comparable to the 6.5x47?
the barrel will be 26"

it looks like a bigger 6.5x47, if it has all the vantage of the 6.5L(i don't want still try to hit that little acciracy node), would be a nice compromise, BC, speed, ease of tune, cheap and easy brass prep.

i just need more info :)
 
I can't help right now. I won't see my 6.5SLR owning friend for a while. I'll try to remember to ask when we next shoot together.
ok thank you! meanwhile how is the 6SLR for you? and if you remember there was some differences between your 6 vs the 6.5 of your friend at long range?
 

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